Aussie James Davison to make IndyCar debut at Mid-Ohio for Dale Coyne Racing

James Davison is thrilled to have the opportunity to take on his first race in IndyCar, especially having won at the Ohio road course in past years.

Plainfield, Illinois - Highly successful Indy Lights driver James Davison will make the big step up the IndyCar development ladder when he debuts in the #18 Dale Coyne Racing IndyCar at the Honda Indy 200 round #14 of the IZOD IndyCar Championship next week.

Davison, a native of Melbourne, Australia, comes to IndyCar after competing in the Indy Lights series in 2008 and 2009. After racing in Sports Car series the past few years, the 26 year old, returns to Mid-Ohio a track in which he won races before.

James Davison Indy Lights Mid-Ohio race, 2008

Photo by: Michael C. Johnson

"It's an incredible feeling to finally realize my dream of becoming an IndyCar driver after 4 years of adversity on the sidelines. I've had to work overtime for this opportunity and can't thank Dale Coyne and all my supporters enough for their continued faith in me,” gleamed the personable Aussie. “There will no doubt be a lot to learn however this is the challenge of racing some of the best drivers and teams in the world in IndyCar. I'll be pushing to achieve the best possible result in my rookie race."

While being away for open wheel cars for a few years, James accomplishments are many. He won the 2008 and 2009 rounds of the Indy Lights races at Mid-Ohio against a formidable field. Those races were won against such current IndyCar drivers like James Hinchcliffe, JR Hildebrand, Sebastian Saavedra and others.

James’s background is rooted in Australia with his famous racing family. Racers all, included his father Jon in Formula 5000 and his grandfather Lex, a 4-time winner of the Australian Grand Prix and cousin’s Alex and Will, current V8 Supercar drivers.

James career started in 2004 where he ran Australian Formula Fords. James would come to America in 2005 and began climbing the ladder system of open wheel cars. James would run Formula BMW, Star Mazda, Formula Atlantic and Indy Lights all in progression to get to this point.

“James has worked hard to stay in front of the teams in IndyCar,” commented Team Owner Dale Coyne. “We gave him a test at Mid-Ohio about a month ago, and he showed great promise and poise after being out of an open wheel car for some time. The time is now for him to make the next step and we are happy to be working with James for his IndyCar debut.”

The team took part in a manufacturers test on June 25th, where James ran flawlessly within a second of seasoned team mate Justin Wilson. Now the team prepares for next week’s open test on July 31st in preparation for the weekend race of the Honda Indy 200 on August 4th.